Surfaces, in particular painted surfaces exposed to the environment, may be damaged by elements such as water, snow, ice, heat, dirt, smog, humidity, bird droppings, grime, salts, chemical attack, and acid precipitation. This is particularly so with regard to painted surfaces such as those on motor vehicles, boats and airplanes. Painted surfaces may also be subject to loss of gloss from micro-scratching due to surface cleaning and from ultraviolet degradation due to long-term exposure to sunlight.
The above problems are, of course, well-known to those in industries whose products are regularly exposed to the environment. The automotive industry, for example, commonly applies protective clear coats over painted surfaces to mitigate the effects of environmental exposure on auto paint. Most clear coats used in the automotive industry are either acrylics, including thermosetting acrylic (TSA) based on polyacrylic/melamine resins, gel-coat epoxies or, increasingly, one- and two-component polyurethane liquid and powder coatings. These and other conventional coatings, however, are still quite susceptible to being scratched, chipped or otherwise damaged as the result of cleaning and maintenance, weathering, environmental conditions, manufacturing and distribution processes and, for that matter, normal use.
What is needed is an improved protective coating that protects surfaces, in particular painted surfaces, more thoroughly than currently existing technologies. The current application provides such coatings.